The present disclosure generally relates to apparatuses or modules for performing consumer research and methods for using same. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to rotatable modules including different consumer research scenarios for performing fast and efficient consumer research.
Consumer studies are used to evaluate various types and forms of products in different situations and are an invaluable step in product development. Companies use consumer studies for various reasons, but the primary use for consumer studies is to determine what consumers think about potential products and how such products can be improved. Typical consumer studies may include, for example, product application, product consumption and sensory evaluation, and in-use conditions.
Consumer studies are generally categorized into three different types of studies including home use testing, central location testing and focus groups. With home use testing, consumers use specific products in the home over an extended period of time. After using the products, consumers provide written or verbal feedback regarding product attributes such as, for example, quality, quantity, and sensory evaluations (e.g., product aesthetics, smell, taste, texture, etc.). Central location tests are generally completed at a central location (e.g., a testing center) where consumers test products in private or public settings. As with home use testing, consumers then provide written or verbal feedback regarding specific product attributes. Finally, focus groups may include a one-time visit to a testing center, or may include any combination of home use or central location testing coupled with a focus group thereafter. Focus groups tend to group consumers according to similar criteria and require the use of a moderator to lead the group session. As with home use testing and central location testing, consumers in focus groups generally provide written or verbal feedback regarding product attributes at the end of the focus group session.
Certain types of consumer research are, however, lacking in time or space efficiency, thereby requiring more time to be spent collecting data for each consumer participant, which inherently increases costs for performing the consumer studies. For central location consumer studies that require different in-use conditions, for example, a consumer participant may be introduced to a first in-use scenario at a first location. The consumer participant may then be taken to a second location to evaluate a second in-use scenario. In situations where the first and second locations are not located very close to each other, or are not easily changed to different consumer scenarios, consumer studies take a longer amount of time and require a greater amount of space to complete the study. Accordingly, there exists a need for a more time-, space-, and cost-effective manner in which to perform consumer research studies.